Menlo-Atherton’s roller-coaster journey is nearing an end, be it this Friday or further in the future, which no one can foretell. The No. 4 Bears (6-4) host No. 5 San Benito-Holllister (6-4) in a first-round Central Coast Section Open Division I football game at 7 p.m.

If M-A’s season was a graph, it would resemble a lie detector test gone haywire. The lowest point on the graph would be the first three games where M-A was outscored 129-23 in an 0-3 start. Those three foes –Marin Catholic-Greenbrae, Oakdale and Riordan-San Francisco are a combined 26-5.

The graph went up-scope for the Bears in a decisive 49-14 nonleague win over Monterey. Then it was a leveling off in a 27-24 victory at Sequoia-Redwood City to start the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division season. The next three weeks, the Bears’ stock rose with wins over Aragon-San Mateo, Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton (big rise) and Terra Nova-Pacifica.

With a chance to win the Bay title outright, there was a slight drop in a 14-0 defeat at Burlingame. Considering the start, a three-way tie for the Bay crown was nothing to sneeze at for Bears coach Adhir Ravipati.

“We played some really good teams at the beginning,” Ravipati said. “We knew it was a possibility with our quarterback situation. We rolled some guys out and tried to set a standard for the program early. It was a combination. We don’t talk to our kids about who we are playing. On Fridays, we try to be the best we came be.”

Even if the Bears get by the Balers, M-A would be staring (pending a major upset) at No. 1 seed Bellarmine-San Jose in a semifinal matchup next week.

Never say never, never say die and it’s never til it’s over. Those adages ring true. Ravipati was getting a history lesson from a parent the other day, harkening back to the 1996 Division I playoffs. That’s when St. Francis-Mountain View lost its first six games of the year, only to win seven in a row to take home the first-place hardware.

In 1974, then Awalt of Mountain View, lost the first three games of the season before running off nine wins in a row to win the section title.

First, the Bears have to defeat a San Benito team that runs an offense unique to most teams in CCS — a double-tight wishbone formation. For years under coach Chris Cameron, San Benito ran the wing-t.

“They’re even more old school now,” said Ravipati of the San Benito offense.

The M-A defense will have to stop two talented junior backs — Hunter Nye and Kyle Cameron, son of the head coach. The Balers, in turn, will have to stop two talented junior backs — Jordan Mims and Stavro Papadakis.

“This is the kind of football game our kids are looking forward to,” Ravipati said.

Win or lose, the graph in the classroom for the Bears has been steadily rising. There were 110 kids total in the program. Four were lost to grades when the grading period came out in early October. Four were gained, evening things out.

“It’s a net-zero,” Ravipati said. “We also had a group of kids who made grades, but didn’t have enough credits. It was never a problem at M-A because kids who would not make grades would never make grades after that. It’s a step in the right direction. We have laid a foundation on the academic side.”

The Bears have one of the best two-way linemen in CCS in Bryce Rodgers, who will play football at UC Davis. Ravipati is touting Rodgers as the “CCS Defensive Player of the Year.”

Rodgers, the team’s lone captain, is just one of four or five seniors who plays on a regular basis. M-A should be even better next year.

“I’m proud of my team,” Rodgers said. “We had a lot of adversity in the beginning of the season. We had to make the choice to not hang our heads, but to look up. We knew what we had to do to get back on our feet. We did it.”

“It has been a run ride,” Ravipati said. “We’ve grown up so much, especially for a young team. We’ve laid a strong foundation heading into the playoffs, heading into next year, as well.”